If you don't delete the folders by erasing the prefs during an uninstall operation, they should survive, but it's a good idea to back them up anyway. They're all in one or the other of the folders you looked in to find the two files you already replaced in your profile/library.

One more question: Last week I installed MacKeeper -- wanted to check for any viruses because I was having an issue with email attachments. Is there a possibility that this program may have caused the program corruption?

I'm having the exact same issue with InDesign. I get the "PDF Library fails to initialize" error message, which renders ID completely inoperable. I, too, installed and ran MacKeeper just days ago. I think it might be the Duplicate File remover in MacKeeper that's running afoul.

Eager to try restoring ID from my TimeMachine back up. By the way, MacKeeper says they no nothing about this problem.

I have MacKeeper also and have experienced the same error: "PDF library failed to initialze" I uninstalled/reinstalled ID and the problem went away. I chatted with MacKeeper online and directed them to this thread and they said they were not aware of an issue, but to me, at least for now MacKeeper seems to be the culprit.

They suggested to omit ADOBE files from the Duplicates Finder feature.

This is an old thread, but fyi, I'm using CS3 - used MacKeeper and now have problems. MacKeeper helped with my overall crashing problems, but I've had problems with various programs since then such as Indesign, and my printer driver for my Epson 3880 stopped working. I'll re-install InDesign and hope that works. (Haven't upgraded the CS suite as I mainly use Photoshop these days.)

I, too, am having the same problem!! I'm very glad I found this thread but super irritated with the MacKeeper people. I /think/ the only thing I did was use Duplicate Finder, but whatever, InDesign and Photoshop are messed.

I'm wondering.... I did google it and found decent reviews, nearly everywhere. Their chat/customer service is really pretty good. But I can't have my software (with which I make my meager living) corrupted, so....

Yes, I agree, MacKeeper is the culprit, though I couldn't say which part of it is evil.

I installed it yesterday and have had no end of trouble now. I uninstalled it, wrote to MacKeeper, and am reinstalling InDesign CS4. It's a shame, because as others here have mentioned, it gets great reviews online. Maybe those who have not yet experienced problems are those who only use their Macs as glorified entertainment systems and not for their livelihoods.

The "livelihood" part is the worst one... I am still plagued by inability to name layers and various other "small" problems that Time Machine has /not/ been able to fix - really don't want to reinstall, but probably the most sensible route to recovery.

If anyone has discovered what, exactly, it is that MacKeeper messes up (which files/prefs/plists, etc), I would be very interested in knowing!

I was told by the third support guy I spoke with that they don't recommend using TimeMachine to restore Adobe products. So there you go.

The reinstall was the way I went, because TimeMachine left out libraries and other things needed to get InDesign back to where I had it. I lost one and a half work days because of MacKeeper, and when I wrote to complain after uninstalling it, they refunded my payment quickly and cheerfully. But I got up at 5am this morning so I could get this straightened out with Adobe.

FYI... This from MacKeeper chat: Shari, as far as I can see - last version of Indesign is added to blacklist, so CS 5, and CS5.5 is safe. About 4 version, I can not tell for sure. In our case I recommend you not to use fast cleanup, because needed caches and languages packs removed, and indesigned stops working. All other tools of mackeeper will work fine, and won`t interfere.

Well, for me, this was not only ID CS4 that was affected, but also PS CS4, both of them. Now having problems with psds somehow being saved as flat files, not useful at all.

It would be super nice if MacKeeper posted this clearly somewhere, rather than having all of us victims contact them after the fact, since full resolution of any of these problems has not been consistent.

MacKeeper is not a good product.

You should not use it.

MacKeeper conveys no material benefit to you. It doesn't make your system run better, or keep your system running smoothly. It causes serious problems for many pieces of software and for many people. You are not getting anything for your money other than aggravation.

Please don't use MacKeeper, and please don't promote it to others.

If there's something in particular you think you need from MacKeeper, I'm sure we could suggest other ways to get what you're looking for. If it is a warm fuzzy feeling, MacKeeper is certainly not that. (You might think it is, but you would be wrong.) The whole category of "optimization tools" is essentially security theatre; there is no ongoing maintenance required to "keep your system clean" or "keep your system running smoothly." There are a few reputable tools out there that can fix occasional corruption problems, but they are rarely necessary and the best ones are not commercial software. (E.g., Onyx is one such program; you definitely don't need it, but it can sometimes help with very strange problems.)

(Of course, it would be better to ask on a Mac software forum, rather than here, but I'm sure we can help you out.)

I have MacKeeper on two Macs, one running 10.6.8 and CS5. No problems whatsoever.

I have a laptop on 10.7, MacKeeper and CS4. Problem, which is why I'm here.

There may be a problem caused by MacKeeper and I broadly agree with John Hawkinson that other programmes do much of what MacKeeper does, etc, etc. but I think the problem must surely lie with the CS4 / MacKeeper interaction.

Back in the day I used AppleJack, but now find myself using both OnyX and MacKeeper. As John suggests, there are other ways to get to the same place as these two programmes, but their point seems to be that they each of them are one-stop scripts that do a range of things, an automator of sorts. Many users simply never repair permissions, or need to. But others need do need to, for all sorts of reason. I'd suggest that each of the aforementioned do their thing their way and so are useful to many users who are perhaps less computer-wise as John evidently is. Many leave their machines on 24/7 and don't need to concern themselves with maintenance scripts. Some don't. And on and on.

His point that one or both programmes conveys no material benefit is correct, but only in so far as you can accomplsh many of the operations they do by simply using the built in Disk Utility in your Mac. Or re-index Spotlight manually. You get the idea. They offer convenience, and the various claims the software makes is the usual marketing that companies do and which you ought to regard as such. And MacKeeper does have virus scanning now, and their version of Find My Mac, so some might find these aspects useful. I'd respectfully suggest that John's comments are useful, but unproven, and so perhaps ought to be read as one reads MacKeeper's claims - with both eyes open.

And anyway, there's a separate thread on this same subject which appears to have nothing whatsoever to do with MacKeeper: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/615271 so the root seems more complex than the suggestion here.